Accused Montco murderer wants to oust his defense team

By Margaret GibbonsStaff writer

Tuesday

Oct 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Two court-appointed defense attorneys will continue to represent an Upper Merion man accused of the October 2012 slayings of a grandmother and her infant granddaughter in a kidnapping-for-ransom gone awry.

Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill on Tuesday declined to immediately hear motions filed by Raghunandan Yandamuri, 27, formerly of the Marquis Apartments complex, to jettison his legal team and allow him to represent himself.

Instead, the judge directed Yandamuri to decide whether the differences between himself and his defense team were insurmountable. The judge also directed the two defense lawyers, Stephen G. Heckman and Henry S. Hilles, to decide whether, in light of the allegations Yandamuri made against the pair, they can in good faith continue their

representation of Yandamuri.

Yandamuri, who has been held in the county prison since his October 2012 arrest, is charged with first- and second-degree murder,

kidnapping and related offenses in the stabbing death of paternal grandmother Satyavathi Venna, 61, and the suffocation death of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna. The prosecution team, First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Assistant District Attorney Samantha L.R. Cauffman, has said it will seek the death penalty for Yandamuri if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

In earlier motions filed with the court and letters sent to the judge, Yandamuri has said there is a difference between himself and his lawyers concerning trial strategy. Some of the differences cited in that paperwork include the defense team failing to follow up on information he has given them and failing to issue subpoenas to potential witnesses he would like questioned.

Yandamuri also has alleged there have been arguments between himself and his defense team, that false promises were made to him and that his lawyers have displayed disinterest and impatience when talking with him.

In a recent interview he gave to a television reporter from India, Yandamuri said his lawyers were “pessimistic” about the case and primarily were focusing on saving him from the death penalty instead of following up on leads he gave them concerning two others he believes are responsible for the crimes, according to a SearchIndia.com report detailing that interview.

Although he gave authorities a taped video confession to the killings, Yandamuri in the interview with the television reporter said two other men robbed the Venna household, accidentally killing the grandmother and then forced him to write a ransom note by threatening to kill his wife and unborn child. They fled the apartment complex with Saanvi, according to the SearchIndia report.

Heckman declined comment on that television interview and whether Yandamuri’s claim that two others committed the crimes led to the disagreement over trial strategy.

“We all have to decide how to proceed from here,” said Heckman, noting that his client was “nodding” when the judge was talking and those nods indicated to Heckman that Yandamuri was still considering whether to go it alone despite the motions he filed wanting to act as his own attorney.

“We (the defense attorneys) have to decide whether there would be any difficulty going forward in light of his allegations against us,” said Heckman. “We have to come to some understanding as to how we can work together as a team. Right now we are solidly in the case.”

Yandamuri, dressed in a red inmate uniform, did not speak during the proceeding on the advice of the judge.

As for the prosecution, Steele said, “We are ready to proceed to trial.”

“At the court’s earliest convenience, we are ready to move forward to make sure justice is done in this case,” Steele added.

The judge said he would schedule an argument in late December or early January on a motion to suppress Yandamuri’s taped confession.

That is one of the few motions filed by his defense team to which Yandamuri has not objected.

Yandamuri has filed pro se (in his own behalf) motions to throw out other motions that his team has filed, including a defense motion seeking to remove the death penalty in the case. Yandamuri in several of his motions has stated that he will voluntarily accept the death penalty if convicted of the murders.

O’Neill told Yandamuri that he has not at this point granted him “pro se” status.

No trial date has been set in the case.

The judge also recommended that Yandamuri cease communications with the court, the district attorney’s office and the media in as much as what he says in those communications could be used against him.

“I am and will do everything in my power to see that you get a fair and impartial trial,” the judge told Yandamuri.

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